Hiroknara Marvaputhram
Satay Hiroknara Marvaputhram '''(1846-1913), also known by the regal name '''Marvaputhram I, was a Toranese leader and writer who served as an advisor to Emperor Viyadjeya and later as regent to Viyadjeya's son Amarthapaya and then emperor in his own right. As such, he is sometimes considered the last emperor of Toran, although many do not acknolwedge him as a rightful emperor. A promising young scholar and politician, Marvaputhram easily rose up through the ranks of Viyadjeya's restored empire to the position of highest esteem in the empire at the time of the emperor's death, after which time he took on the regency of Viyadjeya's infant grandson Amarthapaya in 1879. However, general Turahi Sikkit took this time to begin a rebellion against the monarchy, and briefly seized Adire in 1883. Marvaputhram consoldiated his power across Toran and pushed back into Adire, forcing Sikkit into exile. In the conflict, the infant Amarthapaya was killed, and, in the summer of 1883, Marvaputhram declared himself Emperor of Toran. He ruled unchecked from Adire for a little over two hundred days, a period often remembered as the "Days of Terror." Marvaputhram was determined to purge Toran of all revolutionary influences, and had somewhere between fifty and two hundred thousand "insurrectionists" and "socialists" shot and deported in one of the quickest and bloodiest massacres in Toranese history. Marvaputhram centralized all institutions in himself and scourged the country for Sikkit, to no avail. After two hundred days of rule, Marvaputhram was deposed in a violent revolution lead by Sikkit, who resurfaced in Avedon and marched on Adire from the north. Marvaputhram was arrested and placed in a high security prison until further arrangements could be made; as Motoenu 's liberal constitution abolished capital punishment, Marvaputhram could not be executed. During his thirty years in prison, Marvaputhram wrote the book On the Governance of Societies, which was distributed secretly and became popular in reactionary and philosophical circles. In it, Marvaputhram detailed his political ideology, which rejected both the notions of the hereditary monarchy and the democracy, instead proposing a third form of government comprised of a powerful figurehead that represented the general will of the populace of the nation. In 1911, Arbala Asuka banned the book in Toran, and, in 1913, an unnamed soldier arrived at Marvaputhram's cell and shot him in the head. Although mainstream history generally views Marvaputhram as a tyrant and a murderer, he is a popular cult figure whose philosophy has been extremely influential on a number of politicians and writers of the twentieth century, most notably César Antov, who idolized Marvaputhram. His face has been used in numerous conservative and anti-democratic demonstrations around the world, and Marvaputhramist ideology is relatively popular in extremist regions of Toran, Geskia, and Ukar. On the Governance of Societies ''has been banned countless times in nearly every country in the world, and has been often prized for being so dangerous and controversial in its message and authorship. Some Marvaputhramist restorationists in Toran also believe that, as Marvaputhram was the last Toranese empire, the throne should be given to his most direct descendant, namely Sitiye Hiroknara Bansan. Description In ''The Annals of the Civil War and the Founding of the Republic, Narvis describes Marvaputhram as a "small man with a great temper." Marvaputhram was, indeed, of small stature, only 5'8" and very thin. He wore thick glasses, without which he allegedly could not see at all. He also suffered from asthma and a number of allergies, including pollen and peanuts. Marvaputhram would later write about how he was bullied in school for his small and unathletic figure. In constrast to his physical appearance, Marvaputhram was described as being strong-willed, stubborn, brilliant, and often hard to work with in his personal relations. Narvis called his personality "volatile and constantly subject to change; little surprise it was that he kept few close companions throughout his life. He was better at making enemies than friends." Despite this, nearly everyone who interacted with Marvaputhram when he was young regarded his intellectual capacity very highly, and he was often described as a "genius" or a "man of brilliance." Early Life life Political Career career Regent of Toran of Toran The Days of Terror Days of Terror Imprisonment and Death and Death On the morning of February 17, 1903, Marvaputhram was found shot twenty-two times in his maximum-security cell, his body nearly unrecognizable. While the case was officially deemed a murder, no one was even prosecuted or identified, and many believe that the assassination was in fact ordered by Asuka himself. Asuka released an official statement that the murder had been illegal, but Marvaputhram would not be mourned. Philosophy Marvapthuram was an ardent anti-individualist, scorning the notions of civil or human rights or the idea of the individual as the most meaningful unit in society. While not deeply religious, he was heavily influenced by the Cåoist worldview, which traditionally saw perfect human understanding as leading to a complete convergence of all beings into one. He was strictly an elitist, believing the masses far too uneducated to have any say in government; instead, he believed, a small cadre of the smartest and most educated should have absolute control, not only of the workings of governments, but of the lives of their subjects. He called this figure the "Tyrant," who would operate as a machine to create order in society and in individual homes. He supported rigid ritual, not for spiritual purposes but for the preservation of order and hierarchy and the occupation of the ignorant masses. The job of the "Tyrant" would be complete when society was perfectly homogenized and all people were happy and equal; at this time, with strife eliminated, all would not only perfectly play their role in society but do so happily, effectively maximizing happiness. As such, he as at time been interpreted as a socialist, although he himself hated socialism for its anti-authoritarian tendencies and its rejection of ritual and traditional hierarchy. He also strongly supported eugenics, and believed in breeding humans to be as perfect as possible, along with the elimination of those seen as inferior - he believed in the systematic killing of the disabled, the homeless, the extremely old, and the uncurably sick, along with those with subversive opinions and those deemed utterly useless to society. This he called "trimming the population" - "because the population is one tree, not a million; and for the tree to grow tallest, the rotten parts must be cut out, and the brightest parts allowed to grow." On Evil For Marvaputhram, the ends and means were very different, and he saw moralistic opposition to doing seemingly cruel deeds in order to achieve a better society as cowardice. He was a proponent of moral relativism, and categorically rejected moral opposition to any policy based on a violation of rights or freedoms, believing that policies should be judged exclusively on their long-term benefit to society. He was also well aware that this was an unpopular opinion, and played frequently in his writing with the notion of himself and his ideas as "evil" - often casting himself as an ostensibly evil character in a fairy tale that provides the common people with easy answers, even as the story's noble hero is, in fact, in the wrong, as he is motivated by his personal honor rather than by the good of society. This has made it particularly easy for Marvaputhram's critics to cast him as evil, as he himself admits it - however, it has also created a particularly easy defense for his supporters. Characterization Marvaputhram's ideology has been famously difficult to characterize using traditional political language. He is often placed on the far right, as characterized by his authoritarianism and his focus on "blood and soil" along with traditional societal structures. However, as Marvaputhram makes very clear that these societal structures and nationalist ideas are intended as tools to create order, and not good on their own merit, many have questioned whether he can be classified as a genuine right-wing ideologue. His description of an ideal society is also quite similar to that of many socialists, as he does not believe that conservative social structures and nations are intended to last; he is therefore not a nationalist in the traditional sense of the word, as he believed that nations were neither fundamentally real nor eternal, nor is he fundamentally rightist, as he does not believe that societal hierarchy and stratification are inherently good. Some have used the term "radical right" to describe Marvaputhram - "radical" typically referring to the leftist restructuring of society, and therefore acknowledging the contradiction between his stated aims and his actual policies. Writings Marvaputhram is best known for On the Governance of Societies, ''but actually wrote a number of different books and treatises on political philosophy. 'The Mind of a Tyrant' ''The Mind of a Tyrant ''was Marvaputhram's first pamphlet to achieve significant attention. 'The Emperor and the Nation' '''fjdalsd' 'The Third Government' fdjskaldsfj 'On the Governance of Societies' Full article: ''On the Governance of Societies Legacy Marvaputhram is one of the must controversial figures in Toranese history, and has been the subject of an immense amount of discussion and analysis, both scholarly and non-scholarly. His ideas, although controversial and often banned, have resonnated with many political revolutionaries and those disenchanted with the current system. Some fifteen or twenty mass murders and violent demonstrations have been perpetrated by those allegedly influenced by ''On the Governance of Societies, ''including the December 1953 attacks on the parliament building in Adire. César Antov viewed Marvaputhram very highly, and learned Toranese to read ''On the Governance of Societies ''in the original, allegedly keeping a copy of the book by his bed every night. He frequently quoted Marvaputhram in his speeches and writing. 'In Popular Culture' Numerous books have been written concerning Marvaputhram. Irosa Pranhamik's ''Marvaputhram, the Man and the Tyrant ''is often considered the definitive biography, although Stephen Colt's ''The Architect of Terror: The Life and Mind of Hiroknara Marvaputhram ''and Dangansali's ''Marvaputhram ''are also highly regarded and widely read. In 1968, Garbalda Zenokhour wrote a play titled ''Adire, Asoumé ''which recalled the Days of Terror, centering around the mysterious persona of Marvaputhram. Marvaputhram has also appeared in numerous dramatizations of the Toranese Civil War in general. In 2007, a 100-minute television special was made concerning Marvaputhram's life and ideas on the Toranese television channel ''Asidu. Category:Toran Category:History (Toran) Category:Anti-democratic philosophy Category:Political philosophy Category:Marvaputhramism Category:Restored Toranese Empire Category:Toranese Civil War Category:Nineteenth Century